Systems and methods for point of interaction based policy routing of transactions

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a requesting device and at a payment directory computer, a payment request for at least a portion of a transaction and a requesting transaction device attribute, wherein the payment request includes an authorization request;

determining, by the payment directory computer, a payment system for processing the at least a portion of the transaction by accessing a payment directory based upon the requesting transaction device attribute received from the requesting device, wherein the payment directory computer includes a directory of payment systems; and

transmitting, by the payment directory computer, the authorization request to the payment system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the payment system comprises querying a payment system directory to identify one or more payment systems.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the querying the payment system directory to identify one or more payment systems comprises transmitting a payment directory request to the payment system directory with at least one selection parameter, wherein the selection parameter is associated with the requesting device and at least one of an account owner associated with the payment request or a merchant associated with the transaction, wherein the payment system directory parses the payment directory request, creates a query based upon the parsed payment directory request and executes the query against a payment system database.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the payment system directory transmits a plurality of candidate payment systems in response to the payment directory request and wherein the payment directory computer applies a predetermined rule to select the first payment system from the plurality of candidate payment systems.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the payment system comprises determining the payment system based upon a predetermined rule associated with the requesting transaction device attribute.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined rule is at least partially based upon at least one of the payment request, a merchant system, the requesting device, a merchant who submitted a payment request, a purchaser transaction device attribute, a transaction amount, an account holder, a transaction account, a proxy account identifier, a transaction account issuer, an alternate account associated with a transaction account, an overdraft rule, an overdraft account, an acquiring financial institution, a point of sale device, a point of service (POS) device associated with the transaction, a POS device attribute, a merchant associated with a POS device, a geographic location, a geographic location associated with the transaction, a code, a product associated with the transaction, a merchant associated with the transaction, a date a user data input, a first budget associated with a first account and with budget information, a points balance associated with a rewards account, an expiration date associated with a rewards program, a points balance associated with a second rewards program, an expiration date associated with a rewards program, a points balance associated with a rewards account, or an allowance.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the requesting device is at least one of a merchant system, a point of sale device, a wireless point of sale device, a transaction instrument, a wireless transaction device, a website, an electronic commerce system, an electronic wallet system associated with a purchaser, or a purchaser transaction device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the payment request comprises a requesting device identifier.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the payment request is received from a merchant system via at least one of an Internet, a gateway, and an SSL Gateway.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the payment directory computer is part of an SSL gateway.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of a payment response is transmitted to at least one of a merchant system, a point of sale device, a wireless point of sale device, a transaction instrument, a wireless transaction device, a website, an electronic commerce system, an electronic wallet system associated with a purchaser, or a purchaser transaction device.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a first authorization response to the authorization request indicating a partial authorization, determining a second payment system based upon a requesting transaction device attribute.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a first authorization response to the authorization request indicating a partial authorization, determining an amount of a second authorization request based upon a transaction amount associated with the payment request minus an amount substantially equal to a partial payment amount associated with the partial authorization.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a first authorization response to the authorization request indicating a partial authorization, determining a second authorization request based upon a transaction amount associated with the payment request; and

determining the payment response based upon a second authorization response to the second authorization request.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a point of service (POS) device and from a requesting transaction device, a request for a transaction;

transmitting, by the POS device and to a payment directory, a payment request for at least a portion of the transaction and a requesting transaction device attribute, wherein the payment request includes an authorization request, wherein the payment directory determines a payment system based upon the requesting transaction device attribute, for processing the at least a portion of the transaction, and wherein the payment directory computer includes a directory of payment systems; and,

receiving, by the POS device, an authorization response based upon the authorization request.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the payment system is determined based upon the payment device and at least one of the payment request, a merchant system, an identifier of a merchant who submitted a payment request, a purchaser transaction device attribute, a transaction amount, an account holder, a transaction account, a proxy account identifier, a transaction account issuer, an alternate account associated with a transaction account, an overdraft rule, an overdraft account, an acquiring financial institution, a point of sale device, the POS device, a POS device attribute, a merchant associated with the POS device, a geographic location, a geographic location associated with the transaction, a code, a product associated with the transaction, a merchant associated with the transaction, a date a user data input, a first budget associated with a first account and with budget information, a points balance associated with a rewards account, an expiration date associated with a rewards program, a points balance associated with a second rewards program, an expiration date associated with a rewards program, a points balance associated with a rewards account, or an allowance.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising transmitting, by the POS device, an authorization request to the payment system.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the authorization request is transmitted via an SSL gateway.

19. A tangible machine-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, if executed by a payment directory computer, cause the payment directory computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a requesting device and at the payment directory computer, a payment request for at least a portion of a transaction and a requesting transaction device attribute, wherein the payment request includes an authorization request;

determining, by the payment directory computer, a payment system for processing the at least a portion of the transaction by accessing a payment directory based upon the requesting transaction device attribute received from the requesting device, wherein the payment directory computer includes a directory of payment systems; and

transmitting by the payment directory computer, the authorization request to the payment system.